Jim Dent - The Junction Boys: How 10 Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged A Champion Team at Texas A&M

All of the material from this book, including the scenes and dialogue, was derived from interviews, official records, books, newspaper and magazine articles, and my own observations. It was amazing how Bear Bryants former pupils were able to quote his worn phrases and manner of speech as if he somehow still spoke to them.

Dialogue was based on my research, which on and off covered about fifteen years and involved more than a hundred interviews with persons intimate with the subject. Many of Bryants quotations were taken from the three great books written on his lifeBear (by John Underwood and Bryant), The Legend of Bear Bryant (by Mickey Herskowitz), and Coach (by Keith Dunnavant). Other books that provided greatly to the research were The Time It Never Rained (by Elmer Kelton), When Catfish Had Ticks (by Rana Williamson), Heart of a Champion (by Steve Pate and Dan Jenkins), The Fifties (by David Halberstam), A Centennial History of Texas A&M (by Henry C. Dethloff), Aggies Handbook (by Sam Blair), and Good Bull (by John Hoyle). Valuable research assistance was also provided by Isabel Dove.

The idea to write The Junction Boys was born out of numerous conversations during the eighties with Gene Stallings while he was the defensive secondary coach of the Dallas Cowboys. At the time, I was the Cowboy beat writer for the Dallas Times Herald, spending six weeks each summer in Thousand Oaks, California, where the team prepared for the season.

Stallings and I spoke at length on several of those summer nights, and also during Cowboy road trips, about the Junction experience. I can still hear his rich bass voice saying, Jimmy, did I tell you about the time in Junction I would listen and scribble mental notes. My memory files were quite thick years later when I decided to tackle the project. By then, Stallings had transformed Alabama back into a national football power.

The force that drove me to research and write the book was Stallingss passion for Junction. You would expect a rational man to feel differently about a ten-day march through hell, drought, and cactus. Bear Bryants preseason camp inspired seventy-six players to quit and almost killed two or three others. But Stallings truly felt that Junction had molded his character and forged his winning spirit. Funny thing. As I traveled around the country, interviewing other Junction survivors, I heard many of the same sentiments and opinions.

Dozens upon dozens of former Texas A&M players and coaches contributed their time and their insight. I would like to thank all of them. Those who put up with me quite frequently and walked the extra mile for this book were Dennis Goehring, Don Weasel Watson, Bill Granberry, Bobby Drake Keith, Bill Schroeder, Jack Pardee, Marvin Tate, Elwood Kettler, Lloyd Hale, Billy Pete Huddleston, Don Kachtik, Bum Phillips, Troy Summerlin, trainer Billy Pickard, and, of course, Stallings.

In Junction, research and texture were provided by Rob Roy Spiller, Charles Hagood, and town historian Frederica Wyatt. Friendships were made in Junction that I hope will last a lifetime. It is a wonderful place with wonderful people.

At Texas A&M, I would like to thank staff members of the sports information department, the Lettermans Associations, and the Twelfth Man magazine. A special thanks goes to Dr. Don Beck for helping to sort out the social significance.

Without my literary agent, Jim Donovan, and Pete Wolverton, the associate publisher of Thomas Dunne Books, this book would have never happened. Thanks, Pete, for grasping the value of the story line when others failed. Donovan provided the first edit on the book and was a driving force from start to finish.

As always, Roily Dent sat at my feet during the long hours of writing and kept my seat very warm during the coffee breaks.